Boku no Senmon wa Nihongo desu!

Ah, the Algebra midterm. Loads of fun. I fared a lot better on that one than I did the Japanese midterm, that’s for sure. But, in speaking with my professor, I will have this weekend to write a bunch of sentences that demonstrate my grasp of the mechanics in the sections of her midterm that I know I screwed up in. Now, the midterms hasn’t even been graded or returned, yet, but I’m going to make a pre-emptive strike. I know I could certainly use the practice.

On the Japanese culture and language: Learning it is a lot of fun, and interacting using that language while understanding the culture and the etymology of expressions serves to educate me in the direction of where I would love to go. However, with the learning of another language lies the burden of maintaining that knowledge through usage. If you don’t use it to a degree of regular practice, then you will most certainly lose it. Take Spanish, for example. I spent three years of my high school career learning Spanish, using it everyday, and I got pretty darn close to fluent, since both my parents spoke it fluently and I could converse with them at my leisure. Eight years later, I’ve come out of practice, and I’m glad I remember how to find the bathroom and ask for my favorite food. That covers the bare essentials. Yet, when I’m faced with another member of my ethnic background, and they automatically assume that I speak the language, they seem a little disgusted by the fact that I don’t. Of course, this is another rant of an entirely different topic.

But back to learning Japanese. I find this culture absolutely fascinating, beyond the anime and dramas. Just the social interaction and nuances alone hold my fascination. I first came across this culture in watching anime pretty heavily during the first year of my initial attempt at college, back at West Valley. When I say heavy, I mean, I literally consumed anime at at least twenty to thirty hours a week. I was constantly on the search for new anime and new fansubs, and I had to generate a small network of friends and bug them for copies of anything I could get my hands on. After anime, though, there was my foray into dramas, and music (J-Pop), and that seemed to fuel the want to learn all I could. So now, I am immersed as much as possible. Watching anime, dramas, Japanese television on channel 26 whenever I get a chance. Listening to Japanese music in the car and driving my co-workers crazy with it at work. Although, at work, two of my co-workers have actually started to like J-Pop… of course, this was after I showed them that hot picture of Hamasaki Ayumi from the cover of LOVEppears…

This weekend will be spent with my nose in all of my Japanese texts (all 7 of them), and trying to get the vocabulary down for the next section of the class. 1 midterm down, 3 more to go. Until later, folks…